KRALLICE: “GO BE FORGOTTEN”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Nov 212017
 

 

I knew Krallice planned to release another album this year, but the timing was reserved as a surprise, and the surprise was delivered last night. The name of the album is Go Be Forgotten.

I was fortunate to hear the album a few days in advance of its release, though I still didn’t know when the bomb would be detonated, and I still found myself scrambling to collect my thoughts. But Krallice’s music so predictably scrambles my brain that I doubt I would have been any more coherent if I’d known the precise day and hour of this one’s release.

However, fears about lack of coherency have never deterred me from expressing myself, nor will they here. But all I can really manage is to tell you the way the music makes me feel… and I can also venture the opinion that I think this is the best Krallice album yet. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: KREMLIN — “DECIMATION OF THE ELITES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 202017
 

 

I’m one of those people who needs a regular dose of massive, bone-grinding old-school death metal (with a particular weakness for the Swedish school) in order to avoid the cold sweats and the night terrors, but it’s rare to find a fix that’s as electrifying and as thoroughly unhinged in its ferocity as the new album by Kremlin, the name of which is Decimation of the Elites. It is thus with particularly fiendish pleasure that we present a full stream of the album today, in advance of its November 24 release by Godz Ov War Productions.

Kremlin is a three-man war machine from Canada featuring past/present members of Infernäl Mäjesty and Outre-Tombe, but although a trio they may be, they sound like an army of 300. Continue reading »

THE INFERNAL SEA / DAWN RAY’D / UNDERDARK – NOTTINGHAM – NOV 17, 2017

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 202017
 

 

(This is Andy Synn’s review of the performances by The Infernal Sea, Dawn Ray’d, and Underdark in Nottingham, UK, on November 17, 2017, accompanied by videos he made during the show.)

I’m not sure why, but this November has been absolutely jam-packed with gigs, so much so that I’ve had to be a little bit picky about what I go to, and when, simply because of all the different pressures on my time and attention (not to mention my wallet).

But there was no way I was going to miss this one, considering that between them Dawn Ray’d and The Infernal Sea have produced two of the best Black Metal albums of recent years. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ALMYRKVI — “UMBRA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Nov 202017
 

 

(It’s our great pleasure to bring you the full streaming premiere of Umbra, the debut album by the Icelandic band Almyrkvi, preceded by Andy Synn’s review of the album as a fitting introduction to what you will hear. Umbra will be released by Ván Records on November 24th.)

 

Just over a month ago our benevolent overlord Islander, he who bringeth the rains and maketh the sun to rise, published a post entitled “List-Breakers” asking our readers to select some upcoming late-2017 releases that had a very high likelihood of breaking their way into their AOTY lists come December, while also providing some suggestions of his own to bear in mind.

And one of the albums he highlighted was the one which we’re lucky enough to premiere for you all here today. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: MIGRATION FEST 2018, SCORCHED, ETERNAL HELCARAXE, EARLY DEATH

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Nov 182017
 

 

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley, and sometimes they’re just naturally daft and glazed, which is a good description of myself this morning.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s round-up, I’m now deep in the heart of Texas for a high school reunion tonight, and spent last night catching up with some old friends over a bottle of whisky. I then slept 11 hours, which I don’t think I’ve done since the year of my high school graduation. And so, this Saturday round-up includes fewer items than I had originally planned.

MIGRATION FEST

The first Migration Fest (organized by Gilead Media and 20 Buck Spin), which took place in Olympia, Washington, in August 2016 was fantastic. The next one is now set for July 27-29, 2018, at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And this morning the festival announced the first round of confirmed bands: Continue reading »

THE CLEARING PATH: THE PREMIERE OF “STARGAZER MONOLITH” AND A REVIEW OF “WATERSHED BETWEEN FIRMAMENT AND THE REALM OF HYPERBOREA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Nov 172017
 

 

(In this post we present Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Italy’s The Clearing Path, set for release next month by I, Voidhanger Records, and the premiere of album track “Stargazer Monolith“.)

 

Way back in the hallowed era known as… 2015… a hitherto unknown artist by the name of Gabriele Gramaglia came out of nowhere to deliver what I still believe was one of the best Black Metal albums of the year, Watershed Between Earth and Firmament by The Clearing Path.

In the two years since its release …Firmament (and its similarly stellar companion EP Abyss Constellation) has remained in pretty much constant rotation in my daily/weekly/monthly listening habits, providing me with a regular dose of frenetic riffing, frenzied drum work, and tumultuous atmosphere that never fails to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

So you can perhaps imagine how excited I was to hear that the band’s second album, Watershed Between Firmament and the Realm of Hyperborea was scheduled for the release at the end of the year (December 8th, to be exact) and even more excited when the promo for it suddenly appeared in my inbox. Continue reading »

ULVER – LONDON – NOV 15, 2017

 Concert Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  2 Responses »
Nov 172017
 

 

(This is Andy Synn’s review of the performance by Norway’s Ulver at the Islington Assembly Hall in London on November 15, 2017.)

Despite the fact that Ulver are definitely not a Metal band by any measure (in fact they’ve not been a Metal band for so long that even stating that they’re “not a Metal band” seems utterly redundant at this point), I’m always happy to cover them here at NCS, whether on record, or in the live setting.

When people ask me “why” I keep covering them, particularly in the light of their most recent, shamelessly electro-pop turn, I always answer them in two ways:

Firstly, it’s entirely possible to make “Pop” friendly music which has both depth and substance. Yes, the majority of today’s big sellers may, in general, be the most vapid, soulless examples of “popular” music, but there’s still a rich legacy of acts and artists who have made a very successful career out of twisting and subverting the expectations of their audience in a variety of surprisingly clever ways.

Secondly… well, it’s Ulver, isn’t it? And if any band has earned my trust over the years, it’s them.

Which is why I recently found myself in Islington Assembly Hall watching the band perform material from their latest album, The Assassination of Julius Caesar. Continue reading »

STALKER: “SHADOW OF THE SWORD”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 172017
 

 

(Our New Zealand friend Craig Hayes (Six Noises) brings us his review of the new album by NZ’s Stalker, which will be released today by Napalm Records.)

The pressure’s definitely on speed metal trio Stalker to step up and deliver with their first full-length, Shadow of the Sword. The Wellington, New Zealand band have already made a huge impression, selling around 1,000 copies of their neck-wrecking Satanic Panic demo in 2016. That’s obviously a significant achievement for any band in this day and age, let alone one based in a far-flung corner of the world. There’s clearly an audience hungry for Stalker’s music, which explains why Napalm Records snapped the band up. There are a number of reasons why the band have proven to be so popular, and why the expectations for Shadow of the Sword are set so high.

Reason #1: Stalker’s guitarist, Chris Calavrias, once played in (the now defunct) high-speed power metal band Razorwyre. That name might not mean much if you’re a full-time guttural grunt aficionado, and Stalker certainly aren’t Razorwyre under a new guise. But Razorwyre’s blistering full-length debut, Another Dimension, met with a rousing reception at home and struck gold in Europe too.

Stalker also features ex-Razorwyre drummer Nick Oakes, whose meteoric percussion also added substantial power to much-loved NZ metalpunks Numbskull. Joining Calavrias and Oakes is powerhouse vocalist and bassist Daif King. And King’s pummeling bass and soaring Halford-worthy falsetto seals Stalker’s 666% TRVE METAL deal. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 27): HELLEBORUS, VIN DE MIA TRIX, ENTROPIA INVICTUS, VINTERSORG

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 162017
 

 

(Our ally Gorger from Norway returns to our putrid neighborhood bearing gifts — four more underground gems from 2017, three of which we haven’t previously reviewed. To find more of his recommendations, type “Gorger” in our search bar or visit Gorger’s Metal.)

And so, a month did pass anew. That’s what you get when life finds its way of twisting and turning for a handsome young man. To the worse I might add.

Nah, who am I fooling. I’m neither young nor good looking. Fuck it. Time to drown ourselves in more tunes never before presented on No Clean Singing.

By the way, I’ve sunk to new depths, and enrolled with the herd of sheep. So for those who care to give a fuck, this cunt can also be found on Facebook now. With this self-advertisement I likely can’t get any lower, so let’s fire up the engines and soar into mighty metallic sceneries. Continue reading »

THANTIFAXATH: “VOID MASQUERADING AS MATTER”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Nov 152017
 

 

Even if you think you have nothing to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, you will on the day after that, because on that day Dark Descent will release the new EP by Thantifaxath, Void Masquerading As Matter. The odds are it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard, unless you’ve heard Sacred White Noise, and even then, this one pushes the envelope even further.

These songs are the children of Dionysus and Hermes, of Ares and Hades, of the Maniae and of Apollo. You could pick a different pantheon, but this is the one that sprang to my mind, because the music is orgiastic and ecstatic, mysterious and arcane, warlike and tortured, grand and funereal, and above all insanely creative — and simply insane. Thoughts of The Wild Hunt and George Gershwin sprang to mind, too.

It might be possible to parse these songs into their manifold musical ingredients, to map them in a blueprint, which no doubt would look labyrinthine, but I lack the musical knowledge and the word-smithing capability to do that adequately. And so, mainly, my thoughts are about the sensations of this sensational music. Continue reading »

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